Cleveland's Valentino Zullo on the five comics that shaped him

The Cleveland Public Library Scholar-in-Residence has a passion for comics.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Four years ago, Valentino Zullo led his first book club discussion at the Cleveland Public Library. Paging through superheroes and memoir, the talks turned to topics like gender, violence and the timely #MeToo movement. The catalyst: comics.

"People began to open up and tell their own stories," he recalls.

Zullo has always seen the power of comics, from his childhood love of "Sonic the Hedgehog" to graphic novels. He pursued a master's degree studying comics at Bowling Green State University. He later followed his passion for connecting with others through a social work degree at Case Western Reserve University. He is now completing his PhD at Kent State University and he practices as a Maternal Depression Therapist at Ohio Guidestone.

In 2016, the two paths fused as Zullo became Cleveland Public Library's Ohio Center for the Book "Scholar-in-Residence," where he crafted his "Get Graphic" comic book discussions and programming. It was so successful that the Ohio Center for the Book will continue the residency as a formal position when Zullo hands over the reins to a new hire, Whitney Porter, a doctoral student at Kent State University.

As a "comic scholar," what has Zullo found that makes the art open up dialogue?

"For me, it's one of the most accessible forms," Zullo says. "It's cartooning, so while these are some amazing, incredible artists you can't mimic, there's always a grounding in 'I too can do this.' You can see how it was made at all times. You always know how the comic was made - it's a form that is always aware of its own construction. Sometimes you don't see the eraser marks, but in some instances you do. You can see what's left behind. You can see the pieces and parts, always. That makes it accessible, that invites the person in, and I think also inspires one to tell and create their own stories. There isn't that same distance when you watch film or read a novel. I'm not saying we can all do it. I certainly can't! But I think it's a very inviting form."

As the son of Iranian and Italian immigrants, reading comics began as a tool for Zullo to learn English. Growing up in Northeast Ohio, his mother would take him to the comic shop and share her experience of reading comics in Iran as a child. He became enthralled in superhero stories, and would later delve into autobiographical comics and, eventually, more indie selections. It's no surprise he went on to study English in college.

Then came a teacher who changed his course. In a Kent State University undergraduate class on 18th century literature, his professor, Vera Camden, asked the class what they enjoyed reading. Zullo started listing off some traditional classics.

"I hesitantly said, 'If you want to know the truth, really, I like reading comics,'" he recalls.

It was something Camden had heard before. Two decades ago, she had another comic lover in her class, Peter Coogan, who went on to launch the academic-focused Comic Arts Conference held in conjunction with San Diego Comic Con.

Zullo, she said, had the same spark. She simply told him exactly what she told Coogan: "Why don't you study comics?"

"In one of his books, 'Superhero: The Secret Origin of a Genre,'Coogan says those were the five most important words someone ever said to him," Zullo says. "I often say his five most important words became my five most important words."

Until that time, Zullo had told himself, "At some point you have to stop reading comics. At some point, you have to grow up." Instead, he says, Camden taught him that you don't have to "grow out" of comics. You just have to think more deeply about them.